1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hydraulic transfer film, a pattern film, and a method of forming a hydraulic transfer film.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional hydraulic transfer method includes: forming a pattern layer on a water-soluble substrate, spray coating an activating agent on the pattern layer to activate the pattern layer, pressing the activated pattern layer on the water-soluble substrate against an article in water so as to transfer the pattern layer onto the article, curing the pattern layer and the activating agent on the article by ultraviolet light or heat, and removing the water-soluble substrate from the cured pattern layer so as to obtain the article with the desired pattern.
With an increase in requirements for higher quality of the hydraulic transfer pattern, a hydraulic transfer film that can provide a superior three-dimensional pattern and desired touch feeling is required.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20110209640A1 discloses a method of forming three-dimensional patterns on an article surface. Referring to FIG. 1, in this method, a hydraulic transfer film 1 is used, which includes a water-soluble substrate 10, a pattern layer 12 formed on the water-soluble substrate 10, a base layer 13 formed on the pattern layer 12 and the water-soluble substrate 10, and an activating layer 14 formed on the base layer 13 and including a curable activating agent. The activating agent can dissolve the base layer 13 but cannot dissolve the pattern layer 12.
Due to the structural design of the hydraulic transfer film 1, the conventional method may not provide good three-dimensional transferring effect when the pattern layer 12 has a relatively large area.